Recovering
by Akuma no Uta
Summary: Gareki is left badly injured in a fight. When he's finally allowed to return to the second ship, Hirato orders Yogi to look after him. Probably OOC-ness, bad/colorless English, fluffiness, I described Gareki's arm pretty well after the Varuga destroyed it.
1. Chapter 1

**What the hell is this... **

**Well, I love Karneval and Yoreki is such an adorable ship and people don't write enough fics about them. I don't know where the hell I got this idea, but I think I was inspired by the scene in chapter 58 (I think it was that chapter). I'm a sadistic bitch and Gareki is my favorite character, that's it. **

**The first chapter tells what happened and what the result of the fight is, but otherwise the story basically follows Gareki's recovery. Yogi is sweet as strawberry chocolate, Gareki is Gareki and this is romance because I think I'll make them kiss at some point AND I SHIP THEM.**

**This will be my first actually long fic. It's a risk because my English isn't actually that good and I suck at writing long stories (or I suck at ending them), but I'll try my best ^.^**

**Fandom: Karneval**

**Title: Recovering**

**Rating: T (BLOOD! INJURIES! Hell I love to torture him)**

* * *

"GAREKI-KUN!"

Gareki could vaguely hear his name as a Varuga launched itself at him, grabbed his right upper arm tightly and continued moving, dragging him along. He could feel his shoulder get dislocated from the power and speed he was wrenched from his feet and let out a small yelp. Too early. Next thing he knew, he was slammed into a stone wall from full speed. The wall shattered into small pieces and Gareki could feel the burning pain radiating from his whole right arm. He didn't need to look at it to know that is was practically shattered.

He lifted his left hand to the back of his head. It hurt. He felt light-headed. He could feel something warm trickling down his head, to his neck. The feeling of light-headedness grew stronger, but he was quickly smashed back to the reality as the Varuga threw itself into his ribcage, causing a few sickening _CRACK_s. Okay, there went the collarbone and at least three ribs.

Then the Varuga was smashed away. Gareki looked up and saw Yogi hovering over him, face contorted into panic, fear and worry. Gareki vaguely noted that he looked a bit sick too as he was staring at his arm. The raven finally found the strength to turn his head and regretted the action immediately.

His arm, from his shoulder to almost his wrist, was completely crushed and torn to shreds. There was blood, torn muscles, snapped joints and a few bone fragments everywhere. He turned his gaze to his chest and saw his collarbone sticking out. He felt like throwing up, but his head was starting to feel really heavy and his eyelids started to close. He could hear Yogi screaming for help, screaming at him to stay awake, helplessly screaming his name and then screaming for help even louder, and then everything went black.

* * *

Gareki's eyes fluttered slowly open. His head felt fuzzy, his eyes hurt and it took him almost five minutes to realize that he was lying in a bed in a white room, hooked into beeping machines. The lights were too bright so he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He vaguely wondered what the hell had happened, until he finally carefully opened his eyes and took a look around. As his gaze hit his right arm lying on his chest in a cast, it finally started to clear to him.

He shot up on the bed as he remembered what had happened. He sat still, expressionless, for a few seconds, until his face twisted in pain and he let out a choked yelp. His lungs were burning. His chest was in fire. He could never describe the incredible, unbearable pain in his arm. His head was starting to kill him, he was starting to feel dizzy and his left hand found its way onto his mouth as his eyes grew wide and he tried to swallow back the nausea. The beeping of the machines was growing too loud and his brain didn't even register that someone opened the door and stepped into the room.

Akari walked to the bed, shoved a bucket under Gareki's ashen face and pried his hand off of his mouth. The raven parted his lips, tried to take a deep breath and failed miserably. This time his hand moved to clutch his stomach as he gagged and threw up what little contents his stomach had. The doctor gave the bucket to the nurse who had come with him and she disappeared from the room quickly. Then Akari lay Gareki back down and waited for his breath to even a little.

Akari placed his cool hand on Gareki's forehead and frowned. However, he decided to ignore the burning fever for a couple of minutes to ask the raven a few questions. If the patient was able to answer, that was.

"Gareki-kun, I need to ask you a few questions. Do you think you are able to answer?"

Gareki opened his mouth to mumble a "yeah" but managed only a pitiful, cracked sound and closed his eyes. He opened them again as Akari placed his hand under his upper back, lifted him a little and offered him a glass of cold water.

"How about now?" Akari asked. This time Gareki was able to actually answer. Akari took some papers and a pen and started.

"How do you feel? 'Fine' is not an accepted answer since it is an obvious lie."

"...my head hurts... And I can't th... think straight..."

"What else?"

"...my arm feels like it's in fire... And breathing is kinda difficult and I feel... sick..." Gareki continued weakly.

"Very well. Do you know what happened to you?"

"...We were... fighting and a Varuga hit me pretty hard and... it crushed my arm... And the idiot was screaming... And then everything went black..." The raven's voice was starting to fade and his eyelids began to close again. Suddenly he forced them open and fixed his gaze on Akari.

"What happened after I passed out? What about the Varuga? Is everyone else o-" Gareki stopped midway as he suddenly gasped for air and his eyes grew larger in shock. Akari stood up and before the teen knew it, there was an oxygen mask on his face. After he calmed down a little, he took it off.

"They finished the fight rather quickly, all the Varuga were defeated. Tsukumo has a fractured ankle and Yogi has two fractured ribs, but that is all. Do you want to hear your own injuries?" Gareki nodded slightly.

"Your head was apparently smashed into the wall pretty harshly, causing you a moderate concussion. You have four broken ribs, of which three are at least in four pieces. For the fractured ones, five. Your collarbone broke and came through your skin; apparently this caused a minor infection, which is why you currently have a fever. Your left shin is fractured and-"

"...my arm..."

"Hm?"

"What about... my... arm...?"

"Ah, I was just coming to that. It is slightly complicated, but I have already performed a successful surgery. You were out of it for four days. Your shoulder was dislocated and practically every bone from your wrist to your shoulder was shattered. There was a lot of damage done to your muscles, tendons and joints. It has been repaired now, but it will take at least two months to use it properly again." Gareki stared at the doctor in as much disbelief as his pains allowed him to.

"T-two... months...?" He managed to choke out hoarsely, having difficulties with breathing again.

"Don't put that on my face again", the raven mumbled firmly between his short breaths. "I can breathe, just gimme a sec... Hey, what the hell is wrong with my lungs, you didn't mention anything about it..." he wheezed out.

Akari frowned. Certainly, there was supposedly nothing wrong with the boy's lungs. However, judging from his labored breathing and obvious difficulty to draw in any much needed oxygen, there apparently was. He pushed a button, causing the upper half of the bed Gareki was lying in tilt upwards. The boy's eyes widened slightly but he didn't let out a sound. Akari pulled down the blanket covering Gareki's bandaged and taped chest, grabbed a stethoscope and pressed the cold metal on the pale skin, causing the boy flinch a little.

"Take a deep breath," This time Gareki managed to take a deep, although raspy breath. Then he coughed, and Akari pulled the stethoscope off in surprise as the boy in front of him started to cough more and more.

"From what it sounds like, I would say your lungs are also a target of the infection. Without further investigation it is difficult to say, but a mild case of pneumonia would not come as a surprise", Akari said, writing something down, as the young raven in front of him finally regained his ability to breath.

Gareki was about to say something, but his attention turned to a faint knocking sound from the door. It opened slowly, revealing a blonde mess of hair and worried, maybe a bit scared violet eyes. Akari walked to the door and let Yogi in. He himself left in the process, leaving Gareki and Yogi alone in the room.

* * *

**I'm never writing again... Oh god what the hell...  
**

**Okay, I'll let Gareki return to the second ship in the next chapter. Which won't even come out if you people don't like this fic.**

_**EDIT: **I corrected some stupid errors I had previously made (mostly because I was sick when I got this out). I also corrected Akari's speech and realized that the best way to increase the word count is to make Akari or Hirato talk because those two are just so godddamn formal.  
_

**Well, let me hear your opinions ^.^ **


	2. Chapter 2

**First of all, I AM SO SO SO INCREDIBLY SORRY FOR THE DELAY. I had an awful writer's block and a few problems with my personal life but yeah nothing can change the fact that I'm so fucking late on updating... And well I actually finished this a week ago but the internet connection was so bad (I wasn't home) I couldn't post it... And then I had to watch few episodes of the anime because I had to check a few things...**

**Next apology: Oh my god Gareki I'm so sorry. I just couldn't resist... **

**Oh, I do have good news too: I MADE IT INTO THE HIGH SCHOOL I WANTED TO AND EVEN TO THE SPECIAL LINE. They have a music line (also art and basketball lines) there and I made it in there even though they only take twenty students in and there was a shitload of applicants~ **

**Oh, and sorry about the Nai part here... My friend reminded me that I have to remember to put him somewhere too even if it's just a few sentences and well you can read the outcome... I'm sorry but I'm not a big fan of his so I just tried to make him disappear as quickly as possible and I kinda feel like an awful person because I wrote that scene like that but well fuck it.**

**And about Gareki's eyes... They were probably my biggest issue while writing this chapter (other than deciding what kind of shirt Yogi brought to Gareki, that was difficult). I know his eyes are black in the manga and official art (I always try to stick to the manga as much as possible) but I just love writing blue eyes and well they **_**are**_** blue in the anime... . **

**But anyways, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter (it came out way longer that it was supposed to be but I promised to send Gareki back in the second chapter so no can do) ^w^**

* * *

Yogi walked closer and pressed a button somewhere, causing Gareki's bed sink back to its original position. The raven looked at him wearily, vaguely wondering if he had ever seen the blonde so _quiet _and _worried_. Worried. At least that was what he looked like.

"Gareki-kun..." His voice was just a whisper, and the said boy noticed that there were suppressed tears in the blonde's eyes.

"Before you even start; no, it wasn't your fault. No, you don't need to apologize." Gareki took in a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. "Can you turn off the lights?" he then murmured, just loudly enough to be heard.

Yogi looked at him for a few seconds, letting the tears finally spill on his cheeks. Then he rushed to the door and spent a short eternity trying to figure the light switches out, until he finally found a switch to dim the lights instead of turning them completely off.

The blonde grabbed a chair, dragged it next to Gareki's bed and sat down. The teen opened his eyes and tried to read Yogi's expression; the silence was slightly worrying. And Yogi looked guilty as hell. He looked at the raven and besides from looking guilty, he also looked like the only thing in the world he wanted to do was to hug the fragile boy in front of him.

Gareki let out a small sigh. "If it makes you stop crying, you can hug me if you promise not to crush any more of my bones", he mumbled softly and closed his eyes as he tried to suppress an oncoming cough attack. Soon he felt strong, gentle arms under his back lifting him up.

Yogi slowly lifted Gareki's upper body up – careful with all the tubes, needles and bandages - and wrapped his arms around the boy carefully, as if the raven would break at any second. He felt Gareki's unsteady breathing and heard the first cough. Next thing he knew, what he had in his arms was an injured mess of a young man who was convulsing with violent coughs and desperately trying to draw in some air.

A small gasp of mixed surprise and worry was heard from the blonde, before he carefully moved his hands up the raven's back and started massaging the area behind the boy's lungs tenderly. The smaller body in his arms slowly calmed down and started breathing again - with obvious difficulty, but still.

Gareki slowly raised his head, and Yogi felt his throat tighten at the sight. The raven's usually so bright, sharp azure eyes were now covered by a thick curtain of pain and weariness; it was hard to think they were the same intelligent, cold eyes that skillfully analyzed everything and disliked any form of affection, physical contact and weakness.

"Yogi..." Gareki's voice was too quiet to be called a whisper. It was more like he was just moving his lips and wheezing out air. "It hurts..." Yogi felt the tears stinging his eyes again as he tried not to cry. Gareki wasn't supposed to sound so desperate. He wasn't supposed to be so broken, in so much pain. Yogi's hand slid to caress the dark hair as he pressed the boy's face gently into his own shoulder.

"I know, Gareki-kun..."Yogi murmured softly, stroking the pitch black locks. "I know, but it'll be alright... It won't last forever, okay? You'll be just fine, just wait and see." He felt a barely noticeable nod against his shoulder.

"Yogi..." Gareki whispered into the yellow shirt. "I'm tired..." Yogi smiled lightly.

"Yeah, let's get you to sleep now, okay?" A gentle smile rose to grace his delicate features. He stood up and carefully pulled the blanket up, pressing a soft kiss on Gareki's forehead. He earned a small frown for this gesture, but the raven's face soon smoothened as the boy fell asleep.

* * *

The next time he woke, up, he wasn't in that much pain anymore. There was a dull ache in his arm and his chest hurt a little, but besides the general discomfort caused by fever, that was about it. He looked around the dimly lit room and vaguely wondered what the hell did the three or four – he wasn't exactly sure, he was too tired to count - IV drips contain. Probably more painkillers, antiemetics and who knew what other medicines than water.

He lay still for a while, listening to the steady beeping of the heart monitor. He was beginning to fall asleep again as he heard something through the door. Even though he couldn't tell what was going on, it sounded like a conversation between two people. His sleepy brain was just about to recognize the voices as the door flew open and Nai ran in. His cheerful expression was soon replaced by immense worry as he saw Gareki. Suddenly his large eyes were filled with tears he was desperately trying to fight back, at least for the injured raven in front of him.

"Gareki..." the niji's hands moved to cover his mouth as tears spilled down on his cheeks. He turned around to look at Yogi.

"Yogi, it's been five days already! Why is he still in so bad condition?" More tears. Yogi walked to hug him and tried to explain.

"Nai-chan, Gareki-kun is in a lot better condition than he was two days ago, or five days ago. It'll just take some time to heal completely." Yogi broke the hug and smiled at the young boy reassuringly. Then he raised his head to look at Gareki.

"Hi, Gareki-kun, how are you feeling?" Yogi flashed him a sunny smile. Gareki moved his eyes to look at the IV drips.

"How much painkillers do these things have?" he asked instead of answering.

"A lot, I guess. Why?" The raven closed his eyes and mumbled something about not feeling as crappy as yesterday, causing Yogi's smile to grow even wider.

"Nai-chan, Gareki-kun seems tired. We should let him sleep, don't you think?" He earned a firm nod from Nai, who started walking to the door. Then he suddenly stopped and worry took over his face again as he turned to look back at Gareki.

"But what if Gareki has nightmares again?" Yogi looked at him with a questioning look on his face.

"Nai-chan, what are yo-"

"Gareki always has nightmares!" Nai almost yelled with a concerned edge in his voice. Gareki cursed inside his head as Yogi tried to come up with something to say. The blonde finally seemed to clear his head as he exclaimed:

"Well, is it okay if I stay with him, then?" Nai seemed to hesitate a bit before nodding and running out of door to Tsukumo, who was waiting. Yogi sat down on a chair by the bed and looked at the raven with a mixture of worry and question on his face. Gareki chose to ignore the unspoken question; it would be annoying to explain.

Silence filled the room; the only sounds to be heard were Gareki's raspy breathing and the steady beeping of the heart monitor, assuring Yogi that the still raven in front of him was indeed still alive. He noticed the dark eyelashes fluttering open and the azure gaze setting on him as the boy decided that maybe Yogi wouldn't ask anything.

"Yogi... Can you help me sit up?" Gareki's voice was quiet and sounded tired. Yogi found the right button and the upper half of the bed started bending up. A moment before it stopped, Gareki shot up and started coughing violently, causing Yogi to practically jump up and take the three steps between him and the raven in a split second.

"Gareki-kun! Are you okay?" Yogi moved his hand carefully to support the raven's ravaged chest as his other hand started massaging the bandaged back. Gareki managed to shoot a short glare at him before squeezing his eyes shut, but the message was clear; _are you fucking kidding me?_

As he finally managed to stop coughing, he practically collapsed into Yogi's arms, his breathing raspy and labored. He was shaking with exhaustion and pain. He opened his eyes half-way and looked at the blonde.

"Do I really... look... that awful...?" Gareki gave a weak smirk.

"Eh?" Yogi's expression turned into a confused one.

"I mean... Nai started... crying at... the second he... saw me..." the raven wheezed, an almost sad tone in his voice. Yogi looked at him for a second as his dumbfounded face altered into a panicked smile.

"N-no! I mean, you're really pale and the sheets are white and the contrast with your hair is really worrying and I mean you do look sick and all but Nai-chan has been really really worried and-"

"Yogi!" The said man stopped his rambling and locked his frantic eyes into the exhausted body in front of him.

"Just... let me sleep... okay?" As Yogi looked more specifically, the raven both sounded and looked dead tired. The blonde gently placed the raven-haired youth back down, pulling the blanket up carefully. Gareki fell asleep before he even hit the mattress. Yogi dragged the chair a bit closer and sat down.

After what could have been a couple hours, Yogi noticed a slight movement from Gareki. He turned to look at him and frowned; Gareki was obviously still sleeping, but his face was contorted into a mask of pain and fear. The pale lips parted and released a hoarse whimper, followed by trembling which spread from the milky fingertips quickly to the whole body.

Yogi shot up, placing a hand on Gareki's left shoulder and shaking it lightly. Gareki's brows furrowed further and another whimper left his lips. Yogi shook his shoulder again, now with a little more strength.

Gareki's eyes flew open and he started coughing. In sleepy panic he tried to sit up but ended up falling back as his abused body betrayed him. His feverish eyes darted around the room frantically as he tried to escape his own mind while his body was forgetting how to breathe.

Yogi stood still in blind panic for a second before sliding his hands under Gareki's upper back and lifting him to a sitting position. He felt how the raven's hand clutch his shirt and started to draw formless lines and vague shapes on the trembling, convulsing back. Useless, separate words of attempted comfort left his lips before he even realized it. "It's okay", "You're fine", "Calm down", "It was just a nightmare" and "Just breathe" – he sure hoped that this nonsense would make it through to the younger one.

After a short eternity, Yogi felt Gareki ease his grip as the tension in his abused muscles started to drain away. The boy slumped against Yogi's chest, having completely exhausted himself. He let out a soft moan, causing shivers to run down Yogi's spine; it sounded so desperate.

Then a coughing attack hit again, this one more violent than any of the previous ones. The death grip in Yogi's shirt was back, but the blonde barely noticed this as he felt something wet drip onto his shirt. Scared, he carefully lifted Gareki's chin so that he could take a look at the raven's face even a little.

The sight in front of him made his blood freeze. There was a trickle of blood running down the porcelain skin and some crimson liquid splattered around his mouth. He was still coughing uncontrollably, every raw cough causing a little amount of blood to drip on his face.

In blind panic, Yogi reached his hand to push the nurse button. Now he could only wait for someone capable of doing something while he himself desperately tried to calm the raven in his arms down.

Finally, after what could have been only a minute or two but felt like hours days weeks months years _eternity_, the door finally flew open and a nurse ran in, followed by the walking, calm Akari. Reluctantly, Yogi let go of the trembling boy – who was still coughing up blood - as the middle-aged, very mother-like nurse gently but firmly grabbed Gareki's shoulders as Akari pulled out a syringe and injected the greenish liquid straight into Gareki's circulation.

Immediately, Gareki started to calm down. Soon the coughing stopped completely and the raven went limp in the nurse's arms. She gently lay Gareki down, pulled the covers up, wiped his lips and chin clear of blood and stepped aside as Akari stepped closer.

Yogi quickly backed away and almost stumbled into the heart monitor, earning a murderous glare from Akari. The doctor adjusted the IV drips, cleansing and putting one back into Gareki's arm since it had completely dropped out during the coughing attack.

As this was done, Akari wrote something down and started to make his leave, the nurse on his heels. Before closing the door, he stopped and turned to Yogi, who unconsciously took a step back.

"Keep an eye on him. A nurse will come to change the drips in two hours." And with that, the doctor left, leaving Yogi alone with the unconscious boy.

* * *

Gareki stayed at the Research Tower for the next week recovering. He had only two more severe coughing attacks, and as soon as he was able to get up and walk from his bed to the door of his room without having his knees give in after three steps, Akari decided he was ready to go back to the Second Ship.

He was changing back to his own clothes, trying to figure out a way to get his shirt on without help since the cast was restricting his movements and although his pride would never allow him to say it out loud, moving his arm _hurt_. Every movement, every second he held it up; they sent murderous waves of pain starting from his fingertips and spreading like wildfire to his shoulder, every time more painful than the previous one. He was getting quite desperate, and he vaguely thought that it had been at least five hours since the previous time he'd taken his painkillers. The effect was wearing off, and the raven dreaded the moment even the slightest movement of his little finger would feel like his arm was being torn apart.

Silently he cursed as he remembered the fact that he was only allowed to take his medication every eight hours. He threw the tank top onto the bed and allowed his knees buckle under him, slumping next to his shirt on the bed. He brought his left hand to his forehead and sighed, his constant headache slowly making a glorious return. _Forget about the headache, worry about the fucking anemia... Fucking doctor, fucking stupid medication only to be taken every eight hours containing more pills than my breakfast contains calories, fucking rare blood types even Circus can't afford to transfer much, fucking arm for hurting so badly, fucking blonde for being late for picking me up, fucking__** everything**__... _

Gareki took a deep breath and coughed a few times; he'd indeed had pneumonia, and although Circus had freaky methods and medicines for curing practically everything way faster than would be possible with normal ways, his immune system had practically died after the fight so it was by no means possible to recover from it in just a week. According to Akari, the cough could last for almost six weeks at worst even with the medication.

And he didn't want to take all of his medicines. Half of them made his head hurt and the rest made him feel like throwing up, but then he had his painkillers and antiemetics which made him feel well enough to force himself take all the pills and tablets. But the effect of the painkillers wore off in about five or six hours and then he had to wait for almost three hours with different types of pain running stinging cracking flaming piercing pounding flooding waving shooting crushing through his body just to repeat the same circle again. One thing he was grateful, though, was that the three different antiemetics at least did their job for full eight hours before the next round.

Gareki groaned softly as he heard seven quiet knocks in a playful rhythm from the door. In the last week it had become so constant that the raven automatically knew who it was, despite the fact that his head was currently very uncooperative. He heard himself say a "yeah" he knew would reach the person behind the door, and soon the door opened, revealing a mess of blonde hair and a bit apologetic, yet smiling violet eyes.

The raven resisted the urge to let out a relieved moan when he saw the ever-present gentle smile; Yogi would help and Yogi wouldn't tell anyone how weak – how _hurt_ – he was.

And Yogi would smile.

Yogi would smile that beautiful smile and make him feel warmer. Yogi would help him with that smile on his face and make him feel _worthy _of something. Make him forget all the fights he'd fought for his dear life he didn't even like that much, all those years living as nothing more than trash, even most of his nightmares; and maybe, just maybe, Yogi would make him like his life a little more than before when all he'd wanted was death which he could have easily obtained but his conscience never let him have.

Gareki's eyes settled on a plastic bag Yogi was holding. Before either one of them said anything, Yogi pulled out a pink tank top with only one shoulder strap on the left side and a dark blue, loose hoodie with a zipper. He walked closer with a happy bounce in his steps as he held the clothes up with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Look at what I found from your closet!" he announced in a bright voice. He lowered the clothes and continued: "I thought that these would be a little easier for you to put on since your shoulder must really hurt despite the painkillers and the cast must be making movements difficult so I decided to bring these~!"

Gareki simply stared at the clothes for a few seconds before muttering a quite surprised "thank you" which – if possible - made Yogi's smile grow even wider. Then he took the clothes and threw the hoodie onto the bed, proceeding to put the tank top on. It was a lot easier than the previous top he'd fought with for almost fifteen minutes and finally given up on, and he silently thanked Yogi again.

The thought of how the hell was he going to put the hoodie on without using his right arm crossed his mind but Yogi grabbed it and silently – while still smiling stunningly – helped him put it on. Gareki slumped back onto the bed and watched as Yogi straightened himself and clapped his hands together.

"So, Gareki-kun, ready to go? Do you want a wheelchair or do you think you can walk out?"

"I'll walk", Gareki announced immediately. His cursed pride would _never _allow him to sit in a wheelchair. He took a hold of the bedpost with his left hand and pushed himself up. At the second his legs straightened under him, however, his knees gave in as a sudden wave of dizziness washed over him and he fell right into Yogi's arms, panting lightly.

"Gareki-kun!" The said boy felt Yogi's strong arms gently pushing him back onto the bed. His vision was swimming so he quickly squeezed his eyes shut. He felt the blonde's cool hand come to touch his forehead and resisted the urge to lean into it – he was pretty sure he didn't have a fever, but he had quite a nasty headache at the moment and Yogi's touch was soothing it.

"Are you okay? You don't seem to have a fever... Are you sure you want to walk?" Yogi's smile was now replaced by a worried frown. The raven pulled himself away from the touch and opened his eyes into a tired glare.

"I'm walking." That was all he said as he pushed himself up again. He swayed a little, but managed to keep himself upright. Yogi shot him a worried glance but chose to stay quiet and walked to the door instead, swung it open quite flamboyantly and held it open as Gareki slowly made his way out.

* * *

In the end, Yogi had had to carry Gareki for over half of the way back. They were now back at the Second Ship, Yogi sitting and Gareki partially lying on the couch, waiting for Hirato to come in and give some instructions regarding Gareki.

After a few minutes of Yogi's attempted chatting, Hirato walked in and sat down on the other couch. Gareki opened his eyes and made a fruitless effort to sit up, only to be assisted by Yogi who earned a tired glare in response.

"Hello, Gareki-kun", Hirato started, his usual smug smile in place. "How are you feeling? The last time I saw you, you were bathing in your own blood."

Gareki let out a low groan and shot a glare at the older man. "Hello, shitty four-eyes, what time is it?"

"Ah, I see you are eager to take your next dose of medication. Unfortunately, I must inform you that it is only 1 PM and therefore you are not to take any medicines in the next two hours. Yogi", Hirato turned his attention to the combatant and ignored the young raven's frustrated hiss.

"Yes?" Yogi straightened himself on the couch.

"I am assigning you to look after Gareki-kun during his recovery. He will temporarily be moved into your room." Hirato slid a thin stack of papers over the table to Yogi and continued: "There are a few things Akari-san believes are necessary for you to know, such as instructions for Gareki-kun's medication." He stood up and walked to the door. "Unfortunately, I must now excuse myself. I am entrusting Gareki-kun's wellbeing to you, Yogi."

And with that, the captain of the Second Ship closed the door, leaving behind two bewildered young men.

* * *

**Oh my fucking god Hirato is way too funny to write.**

**Okay yeah I think I'm making them all really fucking OOC again... When I started writing this, the thought of Yogi being a difficult character to write hadn't even crossed my mind! I'm thinking too much again but he sometimes really reminds me of Kida Masaomi (same seiyuu, Miyano Mamoru) or Miwa Taishi (I don't even know why but I write Miwa too much anyway) but he's not completely similar so it's sometimes really difficult...**

**So, yeah what do you think? I proofread this myself like... I don't know, maybe fifteen times is quite close? Anyway, reviews are always appreciated, although I would prefer actual opinions instead of "I want next chapter!".**

**Oh, and from now on, I am taking SUGGESTIONS REGARDING TO THIS STORY. So, if there's something you would like to see happening (except for smut), don't hesitate to say so! I'd love to have some suggestions! ^.^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yes, it's been a long time and I'm not gonna even apologize anymore. I'm a chronic procrastinator, I'm in high school, English isn't my first language and I'm not really mentally stable, those can be my excuses. Also my friend got me into Homestuck and it may be really weird but it's really damn addictive.**

**I currently have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to write next (ending with a cliffhanger is a great way to force yourself to write btw, should have realized that earlier) so the next chapter shouldn't take so long (or so I say but you're probably going to have to wait like five months again, sorry).**

**Thank you for your suggestions! They're all going to good use, or at least that's the plan.**

**Also thank you for waiting for this chapter. It makes me happy to know that people read and like my stories :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Yogi also ended up carrying Gareki to his – _their_ – room. Another bed had been set up to the left wall, and that's where Gareki dragged himself and fell on, nearly not having enough strength to position himself on it properly. He curled up on his left side and almost let out an irritated grumble at the fact that he was now facing Yogi's room, not the wall. Well, he could do something about that later. Right now he just wanted to sleep.

He cracked an eye open as he heard Yogi coming close and whispering his name with a concerned edge in his voice. Yogi was hovering over him, a worried look in his eyes. For a second, the raven opened his other eye too, until he let his eyelids slide closed.

"I want to sleep", he muttered. Yogi's frown melted into a gentle smile as he pressed a soft kiss on Gareki's temple. The raven gave a scowl, but being too tired to do anything else, he left it at that. Yogi watched him for a few minutes, until he was sure the boy was asleep, and planted another kiss on his forehead.

* * *

After a few days Gareki finally managed to persuade the doctor into reducing the amount of pills he was supposed to take. Yogi watched, worried, as the boy dragged his feet to the bed and lowered himself onto it as carefully as he in his current state – pained, tired and slightly sick – could, mindful of his numerous injuries and carefully making sure that he wouldn't put any pressure on his casted arm. He'd moved the pillow to the other end of the bed at some point, so Yogi couldn't see his face now.

Yogi sat down on his bed and pulled a huge Nyanperona plushie into a hug, fixing his violet gaze on Gareki's back. The raven had obviously lost weight, and the blond could vaguely see Gareki's vertebras through the loose, light t-shirt the boy was wearing. It was worrying, he thought, but at least Gareki was moving on his own now, even with his new medication; Yogi had been fairly sure he'd go back to carrying Gareki around.

But no; the boy had a will made of pure steel and the pride of a wild lion, and everything he could do on his own he did. Yogi was glad that the teen had the will to fight and he was immensely proud when he saw him fighting his current incapabilities, but to be honest, he was kind of sad that Gareki didn't rely on him when he didn't have the absolute and immediate need to do so.

He had been sitting still for maybe five minutes or so, not having noticed any signs of Gareki falling asleep, when he heard a soft knock. The door opened and in came a sheep followed timidly by Nai.

"Nai-chan?" Yogi asked, surprised. He couldn't even begin to imagine what the boy had in mind.

"I, um... Could we... Could we play something?" the niji then straightened himself, his red eyes locking to Yogi's violet ones. "I-I mean, of course you don't have to but..." Nai quickly averted his eyes, his voice fading in shame, and the wide smile spreading on Yogi's lips was the only thing that kept him from going straight back to his own room.

Yogi set the plushie down and turned fully around to face Nai. "Sure we can. Gareki-kun, is that okay with you?" he asked, now shifting his gaze to the dark-haired boy. He resisted the urge to run over to the bed to help the teen as he pushed himself up with the help of only one thin arm; every movement looked so exhausting. Gareki shook his head a little, as if to clear it, before turning around on the bed and carefully standing up.

"Sure, go on," he grunted, "I'll be in the library." He passed the other two, too slowly in his own opinion, and allowed himself a little moment of weakness when he got into the hallway. Everything hurt. His vision was swimming. He maybe wanted the previous medication back. He was tired but he couldn't sleep. He let himself lean onto the wall for a moment or two before starting walking again. He could vaguely hear Yogi and Nai talking about what they'd play and if they should invite Tsukumo too; they both seemed to support the idea of taking the girl with them and playing hide and seek.

When he finally got to the library, he was beyond exhausted. His breathing was ragged and the horrible headache had returned. He staggered to the couch and dropped himself unceremoniously onto it, letting out a small hiss of pain as nearly everything in his body – head and arm in the lead – felt to experience a small explosion on the inside. He grabbed a pillow and slammed it on his face, covering his eyes, and sighed. _All this because of one fucking Varuga._

After letting the pillow's cool material soothe his head for a moment, he threw it aside and grabbed a book from the low table in front of him. It was bookmarked by him, he knew it was, but the small, white strip of paper with his name on it was lying under the book. The raven scowled, frustrated, and placed the book back down. He was too tired to try to find his place now.

The teen closed his eyes and carefully laid down, placing his head onto the armrest and putting the pillow onto his face again to block the pain-inducing light. Maybe he shouldn't have left Yogi's room after all; now he had to either wait for the pain to pass, fall asleep or just wait until Yogi decided to come to check on him (Yogi and only Yogi; no one else strong enough to carry him hadn't proved that they weren't going to hurt him yet).

After a moment, he heard shuffling from the door's direction. He set the pillow aside and pushed himself up to see what caused the noise and let out a small sound of surprise; a sheep had entered the library and was now moving towards him. He frowned, struggling himself into a sitting position as the sheep stopped in front of him, extending one of its horns and wrapping it around Gareki's injured wrist. The teen grunted and hissed, feeling panic rising in his chest.

"Gareki-kun will play too," was all the sheep said, its hollow, mechanic voice echoing in Gareki's head. Then the sheep yanked his arm, starting a horrible repetitive chain of the same sentence in monotonic voice.

And Gareki screamed.

* * *

**So, what do you think? **

**I'm still taking suggestions and so far everything you've suggested has sounded great so I'm just gonna apologize to Gareki and write everything.**

**Also yes, I'm going to write Gareki getting kidnapped somehow but that will take some time because first I have to get him on his feet again so he can leave the ship and actually get kidnapped.**

**Thank you for reading!**


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